Open Source

Dr. Dobb's Journal: A Pocketful of Change

We'll be expanding our online offerings with digital editions and even more of the technical articles that you expect from Dr. Dobb's

Change is a good thing, which is why I always carry an extra pair of socks when traveling, and a pocketful of nickels and dimes when the airplane lands in Las Vegas.

Of course, change is something all programmers are used to. 'Oracle 11g' means that there were at least 10 previous database systems. 'Mathematica 6' recently morphed into 'Mathematica 7' and 'Python 2.61' is now 'Python 3.0. ' Granted, we've been stuck on 'Web 2.0' for a couple of years, but you can bet there's a 'Web x.0' around the corner. Heck, even Jay Leno is making the change from late-night to prime-time TV.

Dr. Dobb's isn't insulated from change. We've seen it all around us for years and years. Moreover, we've encouraged you to embrace change in everything from programming languages and modern processor architectures to Green Computing and the Internet. But talk's cheap, and at some point, you have to put your spare change where your mouth is -- and that time is now for Dr. Dobb's.

So effective in January 2009, Dr. Dobb's Journal is changing to Dr. Dobb's Report and will be delivered as a new monthly section in InformationWeek magazine. Dr. Dobb's Report will continue to provide the most strategic software development information available anywhere in print. At the same time, we'll be expanding our online offerings with digital editions and even more of the technical articles -- languages, algorithms, methodologies, and the like -- that you expect from Dr. Dobb's.

That's the good news. The bad news is that you're still going to have to put up with my mindless ramblings on a monthly basis. Like The Trailer Park Troubadours' Antsy McClain recently said to me, I'll be strummin' til they put me away.

So what does this mean for you? For starters, if you currently pay for a subscription to Dr. Dobb's Journal, you will automatically receive those issues of InformationWeek that include Dr. Dobb's Report. You'll also receive digital editions of Dr. Dobb's Report as part of your subscription. If you'd like the opportunity to receive a qualified complimentary subscription to InformationWeek, go to https://www.informationweeksubscriptions.com.

All of this also means that Dr. Dobb's will be publishing and looking for more articles than ever before. Articles on what's involved in writing great software for mobile devices, database systems, web applications, and distributed computing. And articles on cloud computing, ALM, open source, agile methodologies, programming languages, and security, to name a few key topics. Moreover, what's really exciting is that we'll be looking for even a broader range of articles, such as deep-dive analysis of technologies and issues that Dr. Dobb's hasn't covered on a regular basis over the years. So let me know what you're interest or expertise is and we'll get you busy writing an article.

I grant you that this is a lot change that involves a lot of people -- you, me, and the editors of InformationWeek, among others. But the end result makes it worthwhile--more great content from a trusted source.

So thanks for all your support for the first 30 years. Now let's get on to the next 30.

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This month's Dr. Dobb's Journal

This month,
Dr. Dobb's Journal is devoted to mobile programming. We introduce you to Apple's new Swift programming language, discuss the perils of being the third-most-popular mobile platform, revisit SQLite on Android
, and much more!